Almond willow Salix triandra

Features

Deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 8 m tal. Habitat - swamp meadows, wet fields, embankments, ditches.

Species	Scrubs (Nanofanerophytes)
Living space	Lake, Pond, River edge, Rivers, Streams, Swamp, Wet site
Size	up to 8 m

Description

Young bark is smooth grey-brown, becoming scaly on older stems with large scales exfoliating (like a plane tree) to leave orange-brown patches. The leaves are broad, lanceolate, 4–11 cm long and 1–3 cm wide, with a serrated margin; they are dull dark green above and green to glaucous-green below, with a 1–2-cm petiole with two conspicuous basal stipules. The flowers are produced in catkins in early spring at the same time as the new leaves, and pollinated by insects. They are dioecious, with male and female catkins on separate trees; the male catkins are 2.5–8 cm long, the female catkins 2–4 cm long. The male flowers have three stamens, a useful identification feature with most other willows having two or five stamens.